February 08, 2013

Justin Timberlake announced his partnership with Bud Light Platinum Thursday, February 7. The 32-year-old singer and actor has signed a deal to become the brand's new Creative Director.

As a creative director, Jessica Biel's husband will be in charge of providing "creative, musical and cultural curation" for the Bud Light Platinum. "Bud Light Platinum brings a refined, discerning aesthetic to beer that plays well with what I'm doing. I'm looking forward to not only being a part of the creative process, but in bringing other talented musicians to the forefront as well," said Timberlake.

Zynga's successful online game "FarmVille" may get a TV treatment. Filmmaker Brett Ratner has joined forces with Six Eleven Media to produce an animated series based on the farming simulation game.

" 'FarmVille' is one of the most exciting brands out there today and its cross-platform opportunities are endless," says Ratner in a statement. "I am thrilled to be expanding the brand with existing fans and also engaging a whole new audience."

Bradley Cooper wants to fast track his long-gestating movie project "American Sniper" in the wake of the shooting death of Chris Kyle, a former Navy sniper. On Thursday, February 7, the Oscar-nominated actor said on NPR program "Fresh Air" that he had met with the producers shortly after the tragedy to determine "how we can speed up the process and really try to make this movie."

Cooper's meeting with the producers was not only to find out "what we can do for [Kyle]s] family, but also on putting the movie on the fast track." He added, "His story, first of all, needs to be told, and it's also relevant on two fronts. One, gun control, and two, the needs to address this - the many soldiers that are coming back with post-traumatic stress disorder."

After news spread that One Direction member Zayn Malik was considering to quit the group, a representative for the band has now come out with a swift denial on behalf of the chiseled heartthrob. 1D's PR company has issued an official statement slamming the rumors, saying that it's totally untrue.

"It's completely untrue, Zayn isn't leaving the band," the statement read out, completely putting an end to earlier speculations spread by certain insiders that there's "growing concern among the bosses that Zayn is on the brink at the moment."

Perhaps Jay Leno thought he could have the same luck as the male actor in the Go Daddy Super Bowl ad. Thus, when Bar Refaeli stopped by his show on Wednesday night, February 6, "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" host asked the model if they could recreate the kissing scene in the commercial.

"Sure," the Israel-born beauty responded to his offer. "Pucker up!" she said, and Leno closed his eyes. However, Refaeli then brought in the nerd in the ad, played by Jesse Heiman, to replace her and kiss Leno.

Ellen Page will soon add the title 'director' to her resume. The 25-year-old "Inception" actress has just nabbed her directorial debut through a project called "Miss Stevens".

Per Variety, the titular character depicter in critically-acclaimed 2007 film "Juno" is set to direct Anna Faris for the project. The wife of Chris Pratt will play a teacher who chaperones a group of high school students to a state drama competition.

James Cromwell was arrested on Tuesday, February 7 in Wisconsin. The actor, who got an Oscar nomination for his role in film "Babe", and an official of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Jeremy Beckham, were taken to Dane County Jail after bursting into a board meeting at the University of Wisconsin and claiming the school tortures cats for scientific research.

They held two large signs showing a cat with metal implanted in its head at a UW-Madison lab. The signs included photos of a cat named Double Trouble that they allege was mistreated and later killed in a 2008 research study of eye movements. "This is not science, this is torture, and it is criminal! Shame on UW!" Cromwell shouted before willingly being led away by police.

In a Twitter chat with fans done during the morning radio show "On Air with Ryan Seacrest", English-Irish boyband The Wanted teased about their next studio album, their third since their self-titled debut back in 2010 and the follow-up "Battleground" which they released in 2011. Reportedly to be titled "Third Strike", the new album will most likely come out as early as October this year.

Max George said he wasn't sure when their third album would be released when Nathan Sykes blurted out October 7, with Tom Parker finally joking about even waiting until 2014. But the three, together with Jay McGuiness and Siva Kaneswaran were unanimous that their next recording will please their loyal followers.

Contrary to the swirling rumor, Lindsay Lohan is not crashing at her mother Dina Lohan's house in Long Island after struggling to pay her rent in Los Angeles and moving out of El Lay. The "Parent Trap" actress has a place of her own, insists a source close to her.

According to E! News, LiLo has rented a SoHo apartment in New York with a friend. Though widely believed that she's broke, the Elizabeth Taylor of "Liz & Dick" seems to do just fine as she splits the $8,000 a month rent with her housemate to solve her financial problem.

The wedding bell is ringing in the next episode of "Glee". Will is back just in time for his wedding with Emma which is set to take place on Valentine's Day, with some of the graduated students like Rachel, Kurt, Quinn and Santana among the guests.

Finn, who has been replacing Will as the New Directions coach, will be part of the wedding as well, serving as the best man. He, however, is "worried about being able to look Mr. Schue in the eye" after [SPOILER ALERT!] he kissed Emma. He also reveals it to Rachel who looks calm as she listens to his confession.

It's confirmed, Taylor Swift will perform at the upcoming 2013 Brit Awards to be held at the London O2 Arena, taking the stage as the last performer on the February 20 show. Although there is no word yet on which song or songs she will choose to include in her special number, with ex-beau Harry Styles expected to grace the show, Swift might be egged on to dish out either or both of her break-up hits "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and the more recent "I Knew You Were Trouble".

Contrary to earlier reports that Beyonce Knowles will close the show, Swift has been confirmed for the coveted spot. The Destiny's Child member is reeling from her mega-successful Super Bowl halftime show performance and may have wanted to catch a break before she embarks on her forthcoming "The Mrs. Carter Show" world tour.

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" will come back to cinemas, this time in an animated version. It has been confirmed that Universal Pictures and its Illumination Entertainment division are working on a 3D animated remake of the green creature tale created by Dr. Seuss.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the animation project will be helmed by Peter Candeland. Illumination's CEO Chris Meledandri serves as the producer, while Audrey Geisel, widow of Dr. Seuss author Theodor Geisel, is set to executive produce. No writer has been tapped to provide the script.

The first look at Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady's newborn daughter Vivian Lake has been revealed. The 2-month-old baby looked adorable as she's cradled by her proud mama when they landed in Hawaii Wednesday, February 6.

While the former Victoria's Secret Angel was doting on her daughter, her New England Patriots quarterback husband held their son Benjamin Rein. She was all smiles as she stepped out of a private plane with her boys in tow.

Iconic rock band Guns N' Roses becomes the third headlining act for this year's Governors Ball Music Festival in Randall's Island, New York City. The Axl Rose-fronted hard rock band joins hip-hop superstar Kanye West and Grammy-winning rock band Kings of Leon for the June 7 to 9 music fest.

"We're stoked to be performing at the Governors Ball!" announced Rose via a press release. "We're all really excited in GNR to be part of this festival, and with such talented and diverse acts in what looks to be a great weekend!!"

John Mayer admits he was not so nice to his exes that include a bevy of Hollywood beauties like Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Simpson and Taylor Swift. "I was just a jerk," he tells Anthony Mason when talking about his past relationships on "CBS Sunday Morning" interview airing this coming weekend.

"It's very liberating when you finally realize it's impossible to make everyone like you. I wanted everybody to like me. I thought I was one shuck and jive away in every direction," says the rocker who's currently dating another Hollywood hottie Katy Perry.

After surviving the group round, the remaining 43 men in "American Idol" season 12 sang once again in the Thursday, February 7 episode in an attempt to nab a spot in the live show. Each of them sang solo and only 28 guys remained after this round.

Those who didn't make it included Matheus Fernandes, the former "The Glee Project" contestant. His performance of Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger" was shaky and Nicki Minaj didn't like that he kept making self-depreciating comments about his height. "Things can go from being inspiring to becoming you wanting a pity party...You don't have to milk that ever again," she told him.

Justin Bieber's mother has shared her thoughts about his hot-and-cold relationship with Selena Gomez. Dodging question if she wants them to give their relationship another try, Pattie Mallette just wants her son to be happy with or without the ex-Disney darling.

"Everybody watches his personal life -- we know about his relationship with Selena," Savannah Guthrie says, before asking the mother if she wants them to get back together again. "I don't know if moms get a vote, but are you hoping they keep it going?"

After performing the track "Stubborn Love" on the hit TV show "Saturday Night Live" three weeks ago along with their big hit "Ho Hey", The Lumineers has now released the official music video to that new single off their self-titled album. At the helm of the four-and-a-half-minute clip is Isaac Ravishankara who has previously directed videos for indie pop duo Phantogram and Brit singer Ellie Goulding.

The Lumineers is noticeably absent in most part of the video, as the clip's storyline centers on the protagonists, a little girl and her mother who's moving away after an apparent split. The folk rock trio makes only a brief appearance, performing on a sidewalk as the mother and daughter drive by, with the little girl pensively staring out the car window.

Set to open Stateside on Friday, February 8, "Side Effects" drops a featurette that focuses on director's Steven Soderbergh works on the set of the intense thriller. In the promo video, lead actors Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Channing Tatum and Catherine Zeta-Jones explain why the film would be a great one from the hand of the Oscar-winning filmmaker.

Mara and Law recently had a sit down with USA Today, discussing their on-set collaboration with the "Contagion" helmer. "The days were ludicrously short. You'd go home at 2 o'clock," Law recalled, referring to the helmer's way of decision-making on the set. Mara agreed as saying, "When you're making a film with Steven, you actually have a life. We'd be done, I could go out to dinner, I could go to the gym. You could go to a movie."

A day after they were revealed in a picture, Whitney Houston's wax figures were shown to public on Thursday, February 7. The members of Whitney's family were on hand to unveil the four likenesses of the pop diva at Madame Tussauds New York before the statues head to four different cities across the country.

Whitney's wax statues mark her 30-year career in music and movies. "They're amazing. They're beautiful," said Pat Houston, Whitney's sister-in-law who was also her manager.

Stuart Freeborn, who created many memorable characters including Yoda in the Star Wars universe for George Lucas, has passed away. His granddaughter, Michelle, said the pioneering movie makeup artist died Tuesday, February 5 in London from a combination of ailments due to his age.

LucasFilm said in a eulogy that Freeborn died "leaving a legacy of unforgettable contributions to film," including classic characters such as Chewbacca and Jabba the Hutt. "Stuart was already a makeup legend when he started on 'Star Wars'," director George Lucas said in a statement.

After wrapping his stint on "Fringe", John Noble has nabbed another small-screen role. The Australian actor is set to guest star in an 18th episode of "The Good Wife" season 4 as someone from Alicia Florrick's past.

Noble will play Alicia's old client, whom Julianna Margulies described as "a very interesting character who is sort of a brilliant techie guy that constantly sues people." He will appear in Alicia's flashbacks.

The continuing debate surrounding the real identity of Benedict Cumberbatch's villainous character in "Star Trek Into Darkness" gets even more interesting. Persistent speculations that Cumberbatch's John Harrison is indeed Khan Noonien Singh grow even stronger after Entertainment Weekly allegedly spoils the big secret on its headline.

The magazine, which has been deemed one of the most trustworthy sources of movie scoop, puts the headline "Voyage Into the New Star Trek Kirk & Khan" on their web page to promote its latest issue which has Cumberbatch and Chris Pine on the cover. The headline has since been altered, but a fan managed to snap a screenshot of the previous title and posted it online.

A screenshot of what supposedly was Kanye West's next album called "Rich Black American" completed with a partial tracklist which was posted online on February 4 is apparently just a big hoax. This is confirmed after it was found out that a user named XXXXXX posted the photo with the fake iTunes track listing and started a thread in the forum of the Kanye West fansite KanyeToThe.com.

The site's administrator, RatedK, was able to trace the identity of the trickster to a person named Matt Closson, who tagged his final posts in the forum with @mvttclosson. His Tumblr page was likewise filled with photos of West and another hip-hop artist, A$AP Rocky.

A juvenile has been charged for pulling a swatting prank on Ashton Kutcher's home last October. The 12-year-old boy, whose named is kept secret by the authorities due to his age, was charged with several crimes on Thursday, February 7, the same day Kutcher celebrated his 35th birthday.

According to Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, the kid was charged with two felony counts of making false bomb threats and two felony counts of computer intrusion. He was scheduled to be arraigned on Friday in juvenile court. Officials also believed that the young boy was the same kid who pulled a similar prank on a Wilshire Boulevard bank later last October.

The current fifth season of the original "Being Human" will be the last for the show. BBC Three has decided not to renew the British supernatural drama series, reportedly due to tightening budgets at the network.

The original series creator Toby Whithouse wrote on his blog, "I know many of them [the fans] will be disappointed that the show isn't returning, but all good things come to an end." He continued explaining, "We must remember too that the remit of BBC Three is to encourage and support new talent, to give them opportunities to make television, to test out new ideas and formats. In that sense Being Human is perhaps a victim of its own success."

Being long in development, Warner Bros./DC's "Justice League" movie project has been repeatedly hit by negative rumors. The latest one suggests that the studio "has no idea how to approach" the project and it decides to toss out the script penned by Will Beall.

Badass Digest first hears the words that Beall's screenplay has been scrapped because, according to some sources, the script is "terrible." Pessimistically, some sources even think that the entire "JLA" project might be "going to fall apart and never happen," though some others believe that Warners will still move forward, "unwilling to lose the superhero arms race."

Christopher Dorner, a man who is being hunted for allegedly killing three people, sent a package to Anderson Cooper before his shooting spree. The package was delivered to the CNN host's assistant on February 1, but he just noticed it after the extensive search for Dorner made headlines.

"Learned today suspect Christopher Dorner sent me a parcel at CNN. Inside was a note, DVD, and a coin shot thru with bullet holes," Cooper tweeted on Thursday, February 7. He also told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room" show, "Actually, I learned today, just today, that the suspect -- the suspect, Christopher Dorner, mailed me a parcel at my office here at CNN in New York."

Kristen Stewart will jump into erotic comedy genre for her next movie. The actress best known for her portrayal of Bella in the "Twilight Saga" series has just nabbed a new role in a forthcoming comedy drama called "The Big Shoe" to be helmed by Steven Shainberg.

According to Variety, the "On the Road" beauty will join Elizabeth Banks and Jim Sturgess. Marking Shainberg's first film since 2006's "Fur", the comedy is described as a combination of "eroticism and humor in the same vein" as the director's 2002 pic "Secretary".

Robin Roberts is gearing up to return to "Good Morning America" after making a full recovery post her bone marrow transplant following her MDS diagnosis. "She's met with her doctors, they've cleared her to come back to the show," fellow host George Stephanopoulos said Thursday, February 7.

Roberts herself announced her return to the ABC morning show in a blog post. "After seeing my doctor again this week I now know when I can return to the anchor chair. February 20th, which will be exactly 5 months since my bone marrow transplant," the 52-year-old newscaster gushed.

Kristin Cavallari comes to Jay Cutler's defense after some criticized him following her revelation in E! interview that she was proposed via text. The former "Laguna Beach" star insists what she said is not the whole story, saying there's more to her baby daddy's proposal than just a simple text.

"Stop bashing jay. He proposed in Cabo. Stop believing headlines...u have no clue. They take 1 piece of an interview to get ppl talking," the 26-year-old mother of one tweeted. "And sports 'news' is no better than tabloids. That's where they get their info."

Marilyn Manson's representative issued a statement explaining his condition after he sparked health scare following his collapse on stage during a concert. "He's fine. He had the flu and he threw up," said his publicist, Jennie Boddy.

The rocker fainted when he was just about a minute into his encore performance, 1996's "Beautiful People", during a gig in Saskatoon, Canada, Wednesday, February 6. The band kept playing though before realizing it was not an act.